Unlike the computer, Walkman, iPod, smartphone, or tablet, the smartwatch hasn't taken off the way tech companies may have hoped.

Apple, Pebble, Samsung, Motorola and others have all tried, with some limited success, to resurrect a product that they helped kill, at least to the mainstream person. I was one of those people.

Growing up in the "iPod age" I never needed a watch. You can laugh at that phrase, but with the iPhone closing in on its 10th birthday, fewer and fewer people will remember what a phenomenon that product was. In addition to my trusted iPod Mini I had a basic flip phone. Getting the time wasn't a big hassle, so why wear a watch?

Then it happened. After hearing all of my favorite tech podcasters talk about how useful their Pebble watch was, I decided to give the Pebble Steel a try. It was charming, with its postage stamp-sized, Game Boy-like screen. What the Steel has over the original Pebble was a sense of style, and if you're going to buy a watch, you might as well choose one that looks nice. I was initially afraid family and friends would call me out for buying yet another gadget, and one that's always on display. But, to my amusement, nobody noticed. My mom even asked if it was a watch I'd gotten for Christmas a few years back.

Now that I didn't have any self consciousness about wearing a smartwatch, I decided to see what it was really capable of. It couldn't do anything fancy, but the Pebble's limited app selection had a few health apps, including the seven-minute workout, which I started to do regularly. Having a health-oriented device on my wrist never really occurred to me, despite the success of the Fitbit. Necessity was really the mother of invention in the Pebble's case; because it wasn't very capable technically, developers had to make small, optimized experiences.

Health apps were nice, but the reason the Pebble never left my wrist was it displayed my notifications. Taking out your phone, even at times when it's not appropriate, has become rampant. "What if I got a text?" I would find myself thinking while out to dinner with a friend. Even worse was what happened when I did get a text; I'd just take my phone out without hesitation. Instead, I could quickly glance down at my watch during a lull in the conversation and keep my phone safely pocketed. This has not only saved me from looking bad socially, but has probably saved my phone battery a lot, too.

Getting notifications on my wrist also made me realize how many notifications I was actually allowing. Every Tweet, Facebook comment, and random app buzz would send a notice to my wrist. I eventually turned most of them off, which has ended up saving me stress.

After a year with the Pebble, I bought an Apple Watch, which lets me respond to messages I receive, and send them using Siri. It's not perfect, but it's definitely the safest way to tell someone I'll be late while driving.

If you've been putting off buying a smartwatch, I'd consider one if you can answer "yes" to either of these two questions: One, do you think it'd be beneficial to have health information on your wrist that can be transferred to your phone? Two, do you want to limit the amount of time your phone is out of your pocket, and stop looking down all the time?

Those are the things smartwatches are good at right now. Don't go in expecting a robust app experience or smartphone-like lifestyle shift, or you'll be disappointed. You should consider the smartwatch to be the ultimate smartphone accessory, one that will only get better over time.

Oh, and it's nice to always have the time on your wrist, too.

Disclosure: This post is brought to you by Business Insider's Insider Picks team. We aim to highlight products and services you might find interesting, and if you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners, including Amazon. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback.